We're Brothers
by Reidluver
Summary: There is more to the Vongola Sun Guardian than his extreme enthusiasm and thickheaded skull. He cares deeply for those he loves, and when his most precious person is in trouble . . .


**This was written for the KHR_fest on livejournal, with the prompt **_"not even the sun can shine brightly all the time"_

**In this story they're about 20yrs old.**

* * *

Everything was quiet.

Kyoko had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Try as they might to keep her and Haru out of the more horrifying part of the mafia world, everyone knew deep down that they wouldn't succeed all the time.

This was one of those times.

It was after the negotiations with the Senzoli Family. It wasn't _supposed _to turn out bad, but as Tsuna and his Family were starting to learn, things rarely _(if ever)_ went the way it was supposed to. Thankfully though, it wasn't the Senzoli who were responsible for this mess. _They _were actually true to their word and Tsuna found he was happy to work with them. The Senzoli were a small Family, which was probably the reason they were so eager to meet with the Vongola. As part of Tsuna's quest to change the mafia world, he was trying to convince other Families to adopt his ways. The going was slow so far, but Tsuna seemed to be having luck with smaller, newer Families.

And so the Senzoli were more than willing to stand by the Vongola. After the meeting Tsuna was being walked back to his car by the Senzoli Boss, a rather young and aspiring mafioso as well, whom Tsuna had taken to instantly. Kyoko had come with the driver to come pick them up, after getting the call that everything was fine and that they had gotten another Family to join them. Getting her _(and Haru)_ to stay behind had been a bit of a hassle lately, mainly because the two women wanted to help out, claiming that as part of the Family they had to right to fight as well and not be left behind when trouble happened.

As it was, Reborn was training the two of them with guns, so they were more than decent with various firearms. It's not like they were helpless. It was just that old habits die hard and being Ryohei's younger sister, well—that argument was pretty straightforward.

However, since things with the Senzoli were just fine, Tsuna felt it was safe to let Kyoko come to the end of the meeting with a few last minute documents. Despite how nervous it made him, Ryohei couldn't help but feel a small bit of pride as he watched his sister smoothly step out of the sleek black car and come out to meet them. For the occasion, Tsuna had brought along Gokudera, Ryohei, and a few other subordinates. Everyone was in a cheerful mood, pleased that things had gone so well when the chaos began. Kyoko held out the sparse documents to the Senzoli Boss's outstretched hands when the first gunshot rang out.

Ryohei could only watch in petrified horror as his sister, wide-eyed and pained, collapsed onto the cement as the unclaimed papers scattered around her like an explosion and blood went flying. Tsuna immediately went into Hyper Mode and Gokudera's Flame shields covered them all as the next wave of bullets rained upon them. In hindsight, when Ryohei later learned that it was not the Senzoli attacking them but the Mendici who disproved of the negotiations being made between the two Families—it made sense they targeted Kyoko first. It was a symbolic message to their disapproval, attacking the one in possession of the documents that signified their treaty.

Yet none of that mattered.

It was his sister_. _

His baby _sister!_

Ryohei vaguely heard all the pandemonium of the fighting going on all around him. All he had eyes for was the figure on the ground before him, bleeding freely. The Sun Guardian collapsed to his knees and scrambled over to Kyoko. He turned her over onto her back with shaky hands and stared in horror at the bullet wound through tear-filled eyes. He brought his ring forward, already lit with Sun Flames.

But Sun Flames could only do so much against a bullet wound, and it had to be handled very delicately. With the bullet still in the body, one had to be careful not to encourage the body to heal over it completely, or that would just cause more problems later on when it was to be extracted. With Sun Flames you had to speed up the rate of blood clotting so the victim didn't bleed out, but you couldn't do anything with the damaged skin.

Ryohei had gotten skilled at this considering their line of work, but this time was different. Of course he loved and cherished all the other Guardians deeply, but having the figure lying in pain being his sister changed things. Ryohei's entire body trembled as he listened to his sister's labored breathing and painful whimpers every few seconds; saw the sweat gather on her forehead from the strain of breathing, the blood _(so much blood)_ that was quickly staining her white blouse, and the image of Kyoko being shot was replayed in his head, over and over again.

His horrified gaze was torn from Kyoko by a hand that grabbed his collar, and he was now staring into the face of the furious Storm Guardian.

"_Wake up, you idiot! Why the hell are you staring at your dying sister for? Start healing her, dammit!"_

The harsh rebuke was accompanied by a punch to his cheek, but really, the words had been enough. Ryohei's eyes gained a firmer edge to them and he shoved down his emotions. He distanced himself from the situation and in his mind turned Kyoko into a faceless subordinate. He did his work quickly and efficiently and then after scooping Kyoko into his arms, made a hasty retreat as Gokudera covered him.

Ryohei reached their get-away car on the other side of the street _(this one was here for emergency purposes, in case the Senzoli had decided to be less than friendly)_ and nearly wrenched the door open. He carefully laid his unconscious sister down in the back and yelled at the subordinate in the front seat to bring her to the Vongola mansion. The man nodded at his instructions but first reached for his cellphone to alert the medical team to be on stand-by.

With that taken care of, Ryohei turned towards the source of the fighting and grit his teeth. Now it was time to fight. Yet before he could take a step forward Gokudera stood in his way.

"_You drive to the mansion with her,"_ he said while simultaneously opening the passenger door.

"_Hell no!"_ Ryohei yelled, grabbing Gokudera's shirt. _"I'm going to make those bastards pay!"_

Not one to back down, Gokudera yelled right back in his face with just as much fervor. _"We've got more than enough people fighting now, and the last thing we need is an idiot without his head screwed on right! Kyoko needs you now and there's a chance there's someone waiting to attack anyone who retreats. You need to protect her, dumbass!"_

"_What kind of a big brother would I be if I didn't avenge my sister?!"_ Ryohei said. _"You'd extremely better get out of my way or so help me—" _

Gokudera placed his gun against Ryohei's head and answered in a short, clipped tone. _"This—is—an—order."_

The two of them glared at each other, hardly daring to breathe, and then Ryohei scowled. _"Fine."_ He let go of Gokudera and pushed him back. Then he rushed into the car, slammed the door, and yelled at the driver to move.

* * *

Thankfully there had been no complications, so they arrived at the Vongola mansion in no time. The medics were already at the front steps with a stretcher and other emergency equipment. They rushed Kyoko inside and began surgery immediately. Ryohei could only pace outside the door impatiently. One of the medics had tried to clean up all the blood on him but he angrily shoved them off and grabbed a damp towel for himself. As he paced he wrung his hands around the cloth to get all the blood off.

Hours—or minutes—passed by and soon the rest of the Family returned. There weren't any casualties or serious injuries, and those who weren't involved in the fight came out to take care of those that were captured to be dealt with later for questioning.

By now Ryohei was sprawled out in one of the chairs, staring straight ahead as if in a trance. Tsuna had stopped by for a moment and placed a gentle hand on Ryohei's shoulder. He gave the boxer an understanding and warm smile then left to get his arm taken care of. A stray bullet had apparently gotten stuck in his arm.

It was after Tsuna had left that Ryohei felt someone collapse in the chair next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see it was Gokudera. The man's clothes were singed, he had a few cuts on his face, and there looked to be a nasty gash on the side of his torso that Ryohei later learned was a graze from a bullet when the nurse asked the bomber.

Gokudera said nothing to Ryohei, just merely sat there as he was attended to by the two nurses that had come to check on him. He hissed and muttered under his breath as they tended to his wounds. Finally, once they were done he leaned back in the chair with a satisfied sigh.

A barely perceptible tension settled between them, but neither said anything. Ryohei had to admit he was grateful that Gokudera didn't start smoking. He had very nearly kicked the habit, only smoking to relieve the stress after a mission or when he was really frustrated or stressed out.

It ended up being Ryohei who broke the silence. "Listen, Octopus-head I … I'm sorry for yelling at you back there. You were right and I—"

"Che, only reason I yelled was to get the message through that thick skull of yours," Gokudera said matter-of-factly. He shifted so he was sitting up straighter then wrapped an arm around his bandaged chest and hissed. "Hurts like a bitch," he wheezed. "Asshole got what he deserved though," he added with a demonic smirk.

"Uh … good," Ryohei responded after a moment's pause. A few more moments of silence passed between them as Ryohei tried to figure out how to proceed.

It was then that Gokudera snuck a glance at Ryohei and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and mumbled, "Hey."

Ryohei turned to look at him, a patient expression on his face.

Gokudera averted his gaze from the Sun Guardian's and took a deep breath as if to steel himself. "Look, I … your sister will be fine," he said, speaking more to the heavily patterned carpet than Ryohei. He clenched his right hand into a fist. "You did a great job on … on stopping the bleeding 'cause you've done it for me before and … you're pretty decent—_for an idiot boxer that is_—and the medics here know their stuff so … so yeah," he finished lamely. He rubbed the back of his neck and scowled.

He adjusted his position once more and stole a sheepish glance at Ryohei. "And seeing as how she's _your _sister, she'll be stubborn as hell so she'll get through this all right, Lawn-head." Gokudera gave him a small smile and lightly punched Ryohei's arm. Then he cleared his throat and stood up, straightening his unbuttoned and dirty suit. He looked at Ryohei once more and gave him a curt nod.

"Well, I guess I'll go and check on the Tenth then …"

Ryohei just stared up at him, a bit of a dumbfounded look on his face. Then it broke into a wide grin and Ryohei leapt to his feet.

"O-Oi! What're you—"

"Thank you for your extreme words, Octopus-head!" Ryohei declared, with his arms wrapped around Gokudera tightly in a hug.

"Wh-Why—_ouch!_ Shit! Stop, that hurts!"

Ryohei quickly let go and took a step back. "Sorry about that," he said. Gokudera just held his side and glared at him with one eye closed shut from the pain. Ryohei smiled warmly. "Thanks."

Gokudera sighed. "Nah, it's fine. Just a scrape, really. And don't mention it. I just … I have a sister, too, so I guess I'm the only one who understands how you feel and … and yeah. She'll be fine." He stuck his hands in his pant pockets and glanced at Ryohei nervously before breaking into a rare, soft smile of his own. "Kyoko will be fine 'cause she's got a brother like you."

" … Thanks." Ryohei put a gentle but firm hand on Gokudera's shoulder and lightly pushed him forward. "Go check on Sawada, Octopus-head. I'll be fine." With a sigh, Gokudera mumbled something under his breath and gave a tiny wave before entering through the same door Tsuna had gone through earlier.

"Sasagawa-san? You can come and see your sister now. She's still sedated but she should wake up in a few hours. The surgery went well." Ryohei sighed and his entire body sagged forward with relief. With those words all the tension in his body disappeared and he suddenly felt a little dizzy.

But he pushed past it and rushed through the doors where his sister was held. She was lying peacefully beneath the blankets. Drained—but alive, and that's all Ryohei cared about. He pulled a chair close to her bedside and sat down. Then he reached out, grabbed one of her hands, and held it in his own.

"I love you, Kyoko," he whispered silently.

* * *

**It was fun writing Ryohei in a different situation. I've always loved how much he cared for his sister. I feel like these two have a very interesting relationship and it's something that's not touched up enough on fanfiction, sadly.**


End file.
